As Richard Grissum stepped foot into the Bomber Stadium Friday afternoon and joined an expected crowd of about 2,500, who were mostly sporting Bomber T-Shirts, he reminisced about the days he spent playing football for the district.

The 1977 Mountain Home graduate played football starting in 1974, up until 1976. And he has a vivid memory of the coolest game he played. That day, he and his team faced Batesville.

It was a home game, and Grissum — whose hands and feet were freezing in the 29-degree winter temperature — said it was “a good” time because he was representing his school.

During this year’s First Security Bank BombersFest on Friday — an event that kicks off the beginning of the school year — many Bombers showed the same school spirit.

They wore sunglasses and grabbed free food as Friday’s temperatures lingered in the 80s late in the afternoon. Organizing an event like BomberFest is the best way the district could start the school year after a long summer, Grissum said.

As a former Bomber football player, Grissum, who teaches agriculture for Mountain Home School district, said he had more pride watching his son, Charlie, play Bomber football and “represent my school.” And during that time, his daughter, Kaycee, was the manager of the team.

Grissum boasted there’s just nothing better for a “Bomber dad than that right there.”

Nicole Hershberger, a 1993 graduate, said she likes everything about BomberFest, and she looks forward to the event every year.

“I’m a fanatic,” she said of BomberFest. Her daughter, who’s now a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, graduated from Mountain Home High School. Hershberger’s 14-year-old son, Gage, plays football.

A nurse and laser technician for Restore by King Dermatology, Hershberger’s booth handed out free sunscreens, mirrors and candies to people. This is her way of supporting the event, she said.

She left town for college, but she came back.

But for BomberFest goers to have a good time, they need the support of dedicated businesses that are willing to commit to the event, like Townsend Spice & Supply Inc.

The pork butts, ribs and barbecue parfait Hillrey Adams, a cook for Townsend Spice & Supply Inc., had to prepare needed to be tenderized, meaning he had to cook the food slowly.

Adams, whose son graduated from the district in 2013, showed up at the Bomber Stadium as early as 7:30 a.m. So that he’d cook everything on site. He had been preparing for the event for a week, making sure he had all the necessary supplies, like the meat, the charcoal, spices and woods.

He planned on feeding roughly 250 people, he said, and it was important the meat tasted good.

Every year, as Adams goes to BomberFest, he prepares something different, hoping that people will come back. He was optimistic Friday afternoon, thinking that he’d won the barbecue contest.

“You always want to win,” he said, but it doesn’t matter. The Jonesboro resident doesn’t mind driving to Mountain Home just to cook, saying that it is fun.

Lance and Kerri Gross, both alumni, came to BomberFest. The couple has two children attending school in the district: 16-year-old Will, a 10th-grader, and 14-year-old Gaby, a ninth-grader.

Lance, who graduated in 1989, said BomberFest is “a good” event because it celebrates athletics. He gets to see his friends at the event, who are also alumni.

A former football and baseball player, Lance’s favorite part of being a student was Friday night games.

His wife, Kerri, who graduated in 1992, was a cheerleader. Kerri sees her former teachers and friends at BomberFest, and she eats some food.